In My Letterbox (12): Monday 25 June to 22 July 2012

Welcome to
In My Letterbox!!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and Letterbox Love is a British take on the idea. If you want to know more, there is information under the Fun Things heading above, or you can click on the pictures at the top of this post to take you to the hosts’ blogs.

These posts are to tell you about the books I have acquired recently. I know most bloggers call all such posts “In My Mailbox”, however, as I’m English, my physical post comes through my letterbox and my electronic mail arrives in my mailbox (or my inbox…). So I have decided to use the following terms:

In My Letterbox (IML) for the physical books I aquire;In My Mailbox (IMM) for the NetGalley books or ebooks sent to me for review by authors;In My Inbox (IMI) for the free Kindle ebooks I compulsively download!

***************************

Catching up with the books acquired during my slight life hiccup…

Books I have won on Goodreads First Reads:

Plaza-in Mexican culture, a slang word describing the territory of a certain cartel.
Imagine your town the battleground for drug cartels. Imagine police being killed on a daily basis, bands of teenagers working as paid assassins, extortionists hitting every business, no matter how small it was. Imagine every time you went out to a restaurant, cut your hair, or even went to the movies your life was in danger, be it robberies or public executions. Imagine just five homicides in a twenty-four hour period being considered a “good” day. This is the description of what it is to live in Juarez, Mexico. In The Plaza, Guillermo Paxton explores the horror of what it was to see the place he called home turn into this nightmare.
Saul Saavedra is a crime reporter for the Juarez Daily newspaper. In just a year’s time he saw his city change from decent place to live and work to a crime-infested inferno. He reports the happenings in a city that is experiencing total social decay and writes against the government that at best does nothing about it. Two major drug cartels battle it out in Juarez and Saul soon finds himself in the crossfire between La Linea and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guns for hire are a dime a dozen in a war among cartels, but Felipe stands out as one of the best. His only love is for money, or so he believes, until he meets a beautiful young prostitute named Ruby. As he rises in the ranks of La Linea his relationship with Ruby changes as well, and soon he learns that she too has a taste for blood.
Thousands of Mexicans are deported to Mexico every year, Juarez being a dumping ground for many. Some are convicts that have spent years in federal prison and now have lost their status as residents. Juan, a psychopathic killer, is given the option to return to Mexico or finish out his sentence in the federal penitentiary. For him the choice is obvious and he soon finds himself at home in violent Juarez and finds work in the Sinaloa Cartel.
Based on true events in the city of Juarez, The Plaza is about the people, the government and the cartels that make up both the innocent victims and the criminals that are the pawns in the drug war of Mexico.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not sure how I feel about winning this book…I have a feeling that reading it will not be comfortable. Then again, that’s true of a number of books that I’ve won recently!

At first glance, ‘Sanctuary’ may appear to be a romantic novel, but it isn’t. Nothing is as straightforward as it seems.
‘Sanctuary’ tells the story of Ben Coverdale and his decision to start a new life in France after his love-life in England collapses. However, Ben’s life is quickly reshaped by events put in place long before his departure to France and their consequences reveal a story of suspense and intrigue. Mary, Katie and Grunge all provide Ben with more problems than he can at times cope with.
Combined with his love of France and a surprising amount of input from the characters in the book, ‘Sanctuary’ is an appealing read for fellow lovers of France with mystery and romance adding to its appeal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve already read Sanctuary – watch out for the review!
If you’re quick, you can get a free kindle copy today…see this note from the author:
The Kindle edition of ‘Sanctuary’ is FREE this week-end. It will not be offered fro free again, so get you copy today. And if you enjoy it (and most readers seem to) please leave a review.

What if you lost your true soul mate, the one person in life you were meant to be with? Would your love ever truly die? Not if you’re Noah Hartman, who refuses to let go of Robin after she inexplicably abandons their love and disappears from his life seemingly forever, her hidden secret yet to be discovered.
And when you finally accept your fate and do your best to move on with your life, what do you say when the unthinkable happens: your true love Robin reappears as your wedding ceremony to another woman is about to commence, looks deep into your soul with her loving, tear-filled eyes, and tells you the one thing you’ve desperately longed to hear for all of these years?
But the ending to this heart-wrenching love story has yet to be written, as Noah, old and sick in a hospital bed, tells his story of love and loss to Josh, a wise orderly at Mount Sinai Hospital. As his family members arrive to bid him goodbye, Noah discovers a far greater truth about his past, present, and future. Things are definitely not as they appear as the pieces of a shattered love are put back together in the remarkable final chapter of Noah’s life.

Have you ever wanted someone…you couldn’t have? For almost a year, all Bea wanted was for things to go back to the way they were before her best friend left…but when Caid Knight comes into her life, everything changes. Even after Princess Jennipher returns, there is something different about the friendship they once shared as her relationships with fellow housemaids, Kerry and Lucy, begin altering and dwindling. News of a revolt against Crimson Isle’s four monarchies threatens the lives of those closest to her while her own safety becomes the most endangered as she considers leaving the only home she has ever known. As for Caid, her feelings for him are growing stronger with each passing day yet she doesn’t know how he feels about her. Before she can ask, she is told that fate will not allow them to be together, regardless of what she tries to do to be with him. Will she defy this foretelling or surrender herself to it?

Jason Stouter, a U.S. intelligence officer forced into retirement by the Mossad, confronts an old nemesis, Kahlil Zufar, during a Middle East conflict final solution. A secret group of genetic engineers tricks Jaason into embarking upon blackmail of Israel and the Arab nations to achieve peace throughout the Middle East. The geneticists engineer a very selective virus, but Jason’s nemesis hijacks the virus for his own purposes, imperiling the mission for peace. Through the cooperative efforts of his friend in the FBI and two sexy but dangerous women he meets along the way, Jason now has to stop the spread of the virus yet allow the dream of peace to go forward. Through the Florida Keys, Jackson Hole, Boston, Israel and Jordan, Jason struggles to find out why Zufar needs to wield the deadliest weapon the Middle East has ever seen to realize his ultimate vision.

More than a Million Wordsis a collection of many unknown authors showcasing their natural talents. In this anthology you find many different authors with many different writing styles while each shine in their own way.More than a Million Wordswas arranged by Luke Wood after receiving great literary works from unknown writers for reading and critiquing. Luke found all of the material incredible and chose to put together an anthology featuring the great talents of these incredible writers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m most of the way through these stories and poems, and enjoying meeting new authors.

A must-read for all redheads and their admirers as well as fans of science fiction and horror.
Redheads have always attracted attention: desired, envied, pitied, ridiculed, even persecuted. Now the sacrifices begin…
In 1921, in the ruined city of Carthage near Tunis, a red-haired French archaeologist hears the cries of long-dead children as he stumbles upon a legendary sacrificial site. Shortly afterwards, he is viciously attacked by a hawk.
Back in present-day London, flame-haired journalist Rebecca Burns investigates strange and macabre events which seem to be directed against redheads worldwide. Together with young astrophysicist Dr Jim Cavendish and Professor Larry Burton, an authority on ancient civilisations, she is drawn into an age-old feud…a feud that threatens the very existence of redheads everywhere.

Feisty thirteen-year-old Alice Parker knows something isn’t right. Aches and pains have started, she hardly sleeps and her craving for fruit is out of control. Suddenly she is top of the class in every subject. Feeling at odds with the world and being bullied by the ‘coven’ at school, Alice can’t take much more. Only when she collapses and experiences a life-changing transformation does she learn why she is different. But with this new identity comes responsibility and Alice isn’t convinced she can rise to the challenge. She just wants to be normal! The fact is she’s anything but.
Forgotten tales of a magical society are catapulted into the daily life of strong, memorable female characters who readers will grow to love. An intriguing blend of realism, suspense and fantasy, a must-read for girls of 7+.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I’ve read this one too! It’s a really good children’s book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. My neice may well get my copy, if I can bear to part with it!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

BOOKS bought from the hospital charity stall:

A stunning and suspenseful thriller, about humanity’s continuous and sometimes futile battle against nature from one of the most popular and bestselling authors in America.
Conducting a strange and urgent experiment of the Arctic icefield, a team of scientists has planted sixty powerful explosive charges that will detonate at midnight. Before they can withdraw to the safety of the base camp, a shattering tidal wave breaks loose the ice on which they are working. Now they are hopelessly marooned on an iceberg during a violent winter storm. The bombs beneath them are buried irretrievable deep . . . and ticking. And they discover that one of them is an assassin with mission of his won. This is classic Koontz.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goodreads don’t have the cover image for the edition I bought…yet. I’m working on finding it for them.

Author gift

When a dashing French poet swept forty-something workaholic Sara Graves off her feet, she did something completely unexpected: She married him. Then three weeks later he died, leaving her a house she can’t afford to keep in a country she’s never been to. Traveling to France to settle the estate, Sara is shocked to discover that her husband wasn’t the impoverished poet he claimed to be- and that the estate he left her is a 400-year-old crumbling castle in the Loire Valley. Now Sara must sell Chateau Rondelais before it (not to mention her late husband’s disarmingly handsome lawyer and best friend) makes her question her decision to leave-and opens her heart to change and all its unexpected possibilities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donna Ball kindly sent me this book when I was drawn third in her competition for reader/reviewers. What a lovely surprise!

……………..

Those are all the physical books that have entered my house in the last four weeks. Next time, I’ll cover some of the electronic books.
Don’t forget to leave links to your posts so I can have a virtual nosey around your shelves!

Knowing that I can’t get to read and review books as quickly as I might like, I have a system for mentioning books in the meantime in the hope that I can in some small way raise the profile.
It is a small way to say “thank you” to authors 🙂